The present population of the Manchu Nationality is 9.821.180. Most of the Manchu people live in the Northeast of China. The largest Manchu community lies in Liaoning Province. Others are widely distributed in cities throughout China.
At a Manchu wadding ceremony, the bride hides behind a red kerchief. When the couple steps into the bridal chamber, the bridegroom firstly lifts the veil with a horsewhip and tosses it onto the roof.
Whenever there was a ceremony in the court of the Qing Dynasty, the w Peace Drum Dance must be served. Today, people can often see this traditional dance on the stage.
The Manchu Nationality has an extremely long history. The Sushen people, living 2.000 years ago, was their earliest ancestors They were called the Yilous in the Han Dynasty, the Wujis in the Southern and Northern dynasties, the Mohos in the Sui and Tang dynasties and the lurchens in the liao, Song, Yuan and Ming periods. In ancient times, these people roamed in the east of the Changbai Mountain and the Heilong and Wusuli river valleys. In the late 16th century; the lurchens led by Nurhachi and emerged as excellent horsemen and skilled mounted archers, amalgamated some Han, Mongolian and Korean people. Later, a new community-the Manchus came into being.
Manchu cradles.
Paper-cut.
The Manchus have their own oral and written language. It belongs to the Manchu-Tungusic group in the Altaic language family. The writing system, created by the end of the 16th century, adopted the Mongolian alphabet, to which dots and circles were added. After the Manchus unified the country under their Qing Dynasty, a large number of Manchu people moved to the Central Plains. To better contact with the Hans both in economy and culture, many Manchu people learnt to speak Chinese.
The traditional dress of Manchu women
Today, most Manchu people are farmers. Those living in cities work in industrial and cultural enterprises. For centuries, the Manchu people have made immortal contribution to the formation of the Chinese nation and the development of Chinese culture.
